Should we get a new M / Q / Moneypenny for BOND 26 and beyond ?

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  • DenbighDenbigh UK
    Posts: 5,970
    Jenna Coleman is a good shout as well. She can do a lot with very little.
  • Posts: 1,630
    Bill Nighy is 6' tall. Great choice for M, Q or a villain, but, mind you, yet another reason for getting back to a tall Bond.
  • MaxCasinoMaxCasino United States
    Posts: 4,629
    Denbigh wrote: »
    mtm wrote: »
    I saw someone suggest Phoebe Waller Bridge a few pages back and I do rather like that.
    I could see that, although I think I'd prefer her to be brought back onto the writing team.

    She could do both.
  • edited February 2022 Posts: 1,282
    It all depends on how well the actors have on-screen chemistry with one another.


    Ben Wishaw worked with DC first on Layer Cake where his character assassinated the latter.....he is a piece of the DC legacy. The only issue is that his character might come across more for comic relief if he continues to be relegated in a box of sort: in SF he was the social media founder-influenced type, in SP he was given a bigger role as part of the action but was relegated to building up the Aston Martin but why was his time being wasted on that car which his employer never even got to keep, then in NTTD.......he's family for Bond while joked with....I just don't want another Q like DL who was there only just because....DL was mostly wasted in the PB era. At least SC would do back-and-forth jabs with him and their chemistry worked.

    With him in TND, Q was just a sentimental piece of history. It was great to have DL there with such enthusiasm and presence but the role really could have been more....then again PB's run was the last hurrah of an era where movies were churned to milk the cash cow.

    If Bond's professional vs family relationship with Q can be tested, it's worth the shot....Q can't always have the answers or magic bullet for Bond every time.....his was touched upon at the end of NTTD when Q was mentioning there is no cure for the virus Bond acquires.....
  • QBranchQBranch Always have an escape plan. Mine is watching James Bond films.
    Posts: 14,571
    They could give Q more to do, sure. I always enjoy his presence in the field.

    I had this scene in my head where MI6 would come under attack and terrorists storm the building (much like in DAD's VR sequence). Bond would get to Q's lab and together they would gather all the gadgets, weapons and other equipment and take on the enemy as a team. I think I just want to see Q use some of his own inventions for self-defence - perhaps with Q even using a classic gadget from a previous era in a different way than intended. There would be opportunity for some humour here:

    Bond and Q have taken cover behind an ordinary-looking sofa. Q pulls out a tube of lipstick or other womens accessory and unscrews the lid, to which Bond does a double take and blurts, "What are you- This is no time to look pretty, Q!" And then Q naturally tells 007 to shut up while he fires the lipstick bullet over the couch. The enemy coming towards them is hit, takes a dive into the couch, which proceeds to rotate, swallowing him up.

    It was notable in NTTD that other than the DB5, Bond used only one gadget in the film proper, while nearly every other supporting character had their own gadget. This is a nice way of keeping the toys in the film without giving Bond a deus ex machina for every situation.
  • brinkeguthriebrinkeguthrie Piz Gloria
    Posts: 1,400
    I hope they keep M Q and Penny. Let's have some continuity.
  • Posts: 2,161
    I hope they keep M Q and Penny. Let's have some continuity.

    I’ll settle for one of them.
  • I am very curious to see if they return or not. I am fine with one of them returns.
  • MaxCasinoMaxCasino United States
    Posts: 4,629
    QBranch wrote: »
    They could give Q more to do, sure. I always enjoy his presence in the field.

    I had this scene in my head where MI6 would come under attack and terrorists storm the building (much like in DAD's VR sequence). Bond would get to Q's lab and together they would gather all the gadgets, weapons and other equipment and take on the enemy as a team. I think I just want to see Q use some of his own inventions for self-defence - perhaps with Q even using a classic gadget from a previous era in a different way than intended. There would be opportunity for some humour here:

    Bond and Q have taken cover behind an ordinary-looking sofa. Q pulls out a tube of lipstick or other womens accessory and unscrews the lid, to which Bond does a double take and blurts, "What are you- This is no time to look pretty, Q!" And then Q naturally tells 007 to shut up while he fires the lipstick bullet over the couch. The enemy coming towards them is hit, takes a dive into the couch, which proceeds to rotate, swallowing him up.

    It was notable in NTTD that other than the DB5, Bond used only one gadget in the film proper, while nearly every other supporting character had their own gadget. This is a nice way of keeping the toys in the film without giving Bond a deus ex machina for every situation.

    That’s awesome. Now I really want to see that.
  • peterpeter Toronto
    Posts: 9,509
    How can any of them return after DC Bond blew up? If you want to confuse an audience after NTTD, this would be the easiest route.

    Clean slate with a new Bond and carry on is the way to go.
  • DenbighDenbigh UK
    edited February 2022 Posts: 5,970
    peter wrote: »
    Clean slate with a new Bond and carry on is the way to go.
    +1

    Also, I've had a thought regarding Moneypenny. An actress that I think could be really good is Anya Chalotra. A really good actress most of us will know from The Witcher, and while obviously she'd be a great Bond girl, I can really imagine her sticking around and flirting with Bond in the classic office.

    W_207_Unit_01998_RT.jpg
    Anya_Chalotra_%2848418060827%29.jpg
  • sandbagger1sandbagger1 Sussex
    Posts: 942
    Denbigh wrote: »
    peter wrote: »
    Clean slate with a new Bond and carry on is the way to go.
    +1

    Also, I've had a thought regarding Moneypenny. An actress that I think could be really good is Anya Chalotra. A really good actress most of us will know from The Witcher, and while obviously she'd be a great Bond girl, I can really imagine her sticking around and flirting with Bond in the classic office.

    W_207_Unit_01998_RT.jpg
    Anya_Chalotra_%2848418060827%29.jpg

    Yeah, she'd be good. She was the stand-out in s1 of The Witcher, I could easily see her in the role (though I guess if Cavill did get the 007 role it might be distracting).
  • peterpeter Toronto
    Posts: 9,509
    @sandbagger1 if Cavill gets the job I'll go to Church every Sunday, and not just at Christmas
  • BennyBenny Shaken not stirredAdministrator, Moderator
    Posts: 15,135
    I want some office continuity to take us right back to DN.
    Therefore Fiennes and / or Whishaw to return. I’m not a fan of field bound Moneypenny, so Harris can go. Though I like her as an actress.
    Given that Bond 26 will be a new timeline like CR, there’s no reason the above mentioned cannot come back with a new Bond.
    Similar to Dench with Brosnan then rookie Craig.
  • LucknFateLucknFate 007 In New York
    edited February 2022 Posts: 1,646
    I'd be genuinely curious about gender-bending the Moneypenny character's role (don't keep the name) and the Q. Character role. You'd have a male secretary Bond doesn't have to flirt with, girlboss woman mission scientist who can flirt by battling Bond with wit and sometimes go in the field if need be. Solves the issue they ran into with Harris as MP. Q. Could be Goodnight, if we like.
  • BennyBenny Shaken not stirredAdministrator, Moderator
    Posts: 15,135
    Or similar to the Villiers role in CR.
    Really enjoyed Tobias Menzies in that role.
  • LucknFateLucknFate 007 In New York
    Posts: 1,646
    Benny wrote: »
    Or similar to the Villiers role in CR.
    Really enjoyed Tobias Menzies in that role.

    Bond has a friend in M.'s secretary, Villiers, which secretly annoys M., and a woman Q. In the vein of Lois Maxwell's characterization of MP, loving and shapes him up before he heads out.
  • ImpertinentGoonImpertinentGoon Everybody needs a hobby.
    Posts: 1,351
    That would be the screwiest of all "is this a new timeline/will they bring back actors" possibilities. Everyone is new and and Craig's run isn't mentioned at all, but Menzies plays a character named Villiers. Maybe have him be some politician outside MI6. Totally random. It would be a sight to see ScreenRant trying to hang 15 articles about Bond continuity on this one character.
  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    Posts: 16,382
    Manzies could be a good M, even; he's an excellent actor.
    And played Fleming too of course.
  • VenutiusVenutius Yorkshire
    Posts: 3,152
    I can see Phoebe WB as Moneypenny, but also as an Ann Reilly-type Q.
    I'd keep expecting her to look into the camera, though...
  • DenbighDenbigh UK
    Posts: 5,970
    Actually this is a good question.

    Bill Tanner? Do we keep him or cut him to give Q and Moneypenny more time to shine.
  • CraigMooreOHMSSCraigMooreOHMSS Dublin, Ireland
    Posts: 8,216
    There's no point having Tanner if the limit of his involvement is the same as what we got during the Craig era. He's supposed to be Bond's friend and not just a work colleague, yet he was reduced to an exposition device.

    If they can only use him in that way, it's better to get rid of him (like previous tenures did for the most part) and give those scenes to Moneypenny. It's more fun to watch scenes between her and Bond anyway with the undercurrent of sexual chemistry that they have.
  • VenutiusVenutius Yorkshire
    edited February 2022 Posts: 3,152
    The Sony execs raised the option of ditching Tanner from SP and giving his few scenes to Moneypenny. Tbf, it wouldnt've made that much difference if they had. CraigBond doesn't have any friends and it's hard to picture him and Kinnear's version of Tanner being good work buddies, let alone personal friends. I can see how it'd be useful for Bond to have a connection with someone at Tanner's level in MI6, someone who might go the extra mile for him now and again, but once the Craig-era had given that role to Moneypenny, there wasn't much for Tanner to do. So, on the one hand, either use Tanner as intended or leave him aside, as vot is point? On the other hand, Tanner's another layer of Fleming and I'd like to see them keep as many of those as possible. Balancing act, I guess.
  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    Posts: 16,382
    I think he had a couple of good bits in Sp but he was a real spare part in NTTD. Shame because Kinnear is excellent. As mentioned above, Moneypenny fufills the 'Bond's friend' position much more because of the nature of how they came to meet, as we saw in SF.
  • Posts: 1,630
    With regard to all these proposals to have "Office Characters" played by big-time actors and rising stars - yet don't want them in the field or doing anything significant, how do you figure the actors would agree to minimal roles, barely above the furniture ? Not likely, is it ? The actors whose names are being thrown about would be more suitable for more significant parts, either by the Office folks getting significant parts in the story, or in playing villains, allies, etc. in the story.
  • DenbighDenbigh UK
    edited February 2022 Posts: 5,970
    But having a role that's significant doesn't necessarily mean that it has to be substantial enough to detract from the other important characters. Significance really just means the role should be written and constructed well enough so that the actor wants to do the role no matter what.

    And it also doesn't mean you wont get a more substantial role later down the line (looking at you Judi).
  • Posts: 1,630
    I did not say anything about detracting from other characters. I merely questioned the reasonableness of expecting prime actors to willingly portray - according to some folks on here who want "things to go back to how they were" - a job-giver with minimal interaction, a device-giver with little interaction, a CIA buddy who drops Bond off or picks him up, a secretary who pines for Bond...just saying that it is unrealistic to expect actors of elevated stature to take such parts. People are mentioning names of some big-time actors and rising stars ! Even if the producers do place unknowns in the parts, and even if they go back to a more light-hearted tone for the films coming up, it seems more likely that the "office folks" still may get more to do, even if they're not coming along on the adventure.
  • DenbighDenbigh UK
    edited February 2022 Posts: 5,970
    Since62 wrote: »
    I did not say anything about detracting from other characters.
    No I know, but I think most people who want the roles to be small again basically want more time for the girls and the villains. I still think whatever happens, you can still attract bigger stars or rising stars to smaller roles if those roles are written and executed well.

    Ana De Armas was a rising star when she chose to do 10 minutes.
  • Posts: 1,630
    Good example ! She did not sign up just to play a pretty lady who pines after that handsome Mr. Bond. She's a colleague in action, in the execution of a mission !
  • MurdockMurdock The minus world
    Posts: 16,351
    Wipe the slate clean.
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